In the back alleys of the Free City Alliance.
Qing had left the hideout after PIG ahjussi’s contact and was walking down a street where hazy neon lights flickered sporadically.
Fog so thick, visibility was near zero.
Toxic substances, floating like fog, writhed like living things, coiling around utility poles before coalescing and dripping down.
A strange sight, rarely seen anywhere else, fascinating no matter how many times she saw it.
Curiosity piqued, Qing reached out and touched a flowing blob of paint.
The yellow paint blob had a fluffy texture, gently wrapping around her fingers before sliding back off.
It felt like swimming through a deep ocean contaminated with colorful paints.
Only lonely neon signs blinked in the street, which felt submerged in deep water. People were scarce.
It was the kind of day even residents with Object lungs would avoid going out unless absolutely necessary.
As such, Qing walked the street more heavily armed than usual.
Armed from head to toe without any gaps.
Under her hoodie and baggy pants, she even wore a sealed suit like a wetsuit.
For Qing, who lacked Object skin, direct contact with pollutants was quite dangerous.
Still, she couldn’t use the weather as an excuse not to go out.
She was looking forward to the item PIG ahjussi had made for her, and she often went out on missions in weather , so she had no choice but to get used to it.
Qing walked cautiously, hugging the Orange Reaper perched on her head.
Walking down the deserted street, she began chattering to the Orange Reaper in her arms.
“Working as a mercenary, everyone recommends I implant Objects in my body.”
“From the brokers who bring jobs to the mercenaries themselves, everyone says it.”
“I absolutely don’t want to. I don’t want to cut off perfectly fine limbs and attach Objects.”
“But even wearing a mask, breathing seems to be getting harder. How long can I go on without Objects?”
From stories about mercenary work and Object bodies…
“They say the three major Families rule the Free City Alliance, but mercenaries think a bit differently.”
“Many mercenaries think that man is the true ruler of the city.”
To stories about the most famous mercenary in the city…
“I need to earn a lot of money.”
“My mother’s keepsake is in this city. I came to the ‘Free City Alliance’ to buy it back.”
“And my plan includes leaving this city full of death again.”
“I just need to endure for three more years. Of course, just surviving here won’t be easy at all.”
And she even chattered about relatively important things like her dreams and future plans.
Why did I end up talking about this?
As Qing spoke, she sighed inwardly, feeling she had said too much.
It was common knowledge that Objects couldn’t properly understand human speech.
But strangely, she felt like she could communicate with the Orange Reaper, so she got carried away talking excitedly.
The Orange Reaper would shake its small, plump face side to side, or nod.
As if it understood her feelings.
Chatting with the Orange Reaper, they soon neared PIG ahjussi’s factory.
Passing through the back alleys of the neon-lit downtown, PIG ahjussi’s factory was located in the most remote part of the city.
To Qing, the area around the factory always seemed dark, littered with trash, like a scene from a dystopia.
She didn’t know why, but strangely, people avoided this area.
Perhaps because the ominous scenery looked like Scavengers might jump out?
Even so, it’s too quiet?
Feeling the overly quiet atmosphere was awkward, Qing hugged the Orange Reaper tightly and started walking slowly.
The closer she got to the factory, the stronger the sense of unease grew.
Even with the thick, paint-like pollution flowing, there were too few people.
Even during heavy pollution, it didn’t seem this bad?
The moment that question arose, a sharp metallic glint flashed from empty air.
Qing instinctively tried to dodge, but she wasn’t fast enough to evade the blade that appeared without warning.
As the cold blade was about to sever her neck, Qing squeezed her eyes shut and hugged the Orange Reaper.
Mini Reaper Garden, middle of the snowfield.
Looking down at the magnificent ice palace made of ice, I felt slightly proud.
Wow, it’s finally finished.
The Golden Reaper ice palace restoration work, which seemed like it would never end, was finally complete.
Were the Golden Reapers happy because the mini Reaper ice palace was completed?
They were walking around inside the mini Reaper palace.
Or cheering around the palace, jumping up and down.
Or sitting on my shoulder, looking down at the palace.
They were enjoying it in various ways, each in their own style.
Though everyone enjoyed it in their own way, their bright, sun-like expressions all seemed the same.
Sitting near the ice palace watching the Golden Reapers, I slowly stood up and projected my will.
Then all the Golden Reapers stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards me simultaneously.
It felt like a scene from a horror movie, making me instinctively take a step back.
The Golden Reapers, looking at me like that, suddenly forgot their joyful play and began clinging to me with gloomy expressions.
Then they hid in my hair, which was hard to detach them from, and held onto my hair tightly.
When I caught one Golden Reaper clinging to a relatively easy spot and detached it, it flailed its arms and legs as if asking to be put back.
It looked as desperate as if its pet Tyranno had died.
Seeing it look so desperate, I put it back in its original place, and it settled into my hair with a happy expression.
It felt like the Golden Reapers had started clinging too much since the ice palace restoration began.
Or were only the clingy ones assigned to the palace restoration?
Since I couldn’t distinguish the Golden Reapers’ appearances and personalities like Yerin could, it was hard to judge in situations .
Leaving the Golden Reapers in my hair alone, I began to ponder.
There were many things to do, so I needed to prioritize properly.
Task #1: Grill Hungry Ghost.
Task #2: Grill Orange Reapers.
Task #3: Go to the Free City Alliance.
Unfortunately, as the ice palace neared completion, the white Hungry Ghost and Orange Reapers had disappeared somewhere.
Even when I asked the Golden Reapers, they just shook their heads as if they didn’t know.
Though they weren’t helpful in chasing the runaways, they seemed to know the ‘Free City Alliance’ well, as an answer came back quickly.
Many harmful Objects!
While thinking about where it would be fun to go, Black Reapers started approaching, carrying incredibly large chunks of metal.
They were Black Reapers making sounds with their mouths like the squeaky shoes of babies, warning those nearby.
And when the Black Reapers spotted me, they placed the metal chunks down in front of me.
When I asked, tilting my head, the Black Reapers began to answer.
And a Black Reaper held out a thin sheet of paper towards me.
It was an instruction manual expressed solely through pictures, like a toy assembly manual.
Looking at the contents, it was the Mecha Tyranno assembly manual.
Seeing the alchemist and James joining forces, I had told the Golden Reapers to place a Mecha Tyranno drawing on James’s head every hour.
A perfect plan for my Mecha Tyranno.
And my brilliant plan had finally borne fruit.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t a pure Mecha Tyranno, but a Mecha Tyranno suit for the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur to wear.
I won’t be able to make them fight…
Still, my heart began to pound with anticipation, like receiving a new toy.
Because the Mecha Tyranno had numerous exciting functions built-in!
As soon as it’s finished, I should fly to the Free City Alliance with the Mecha Tyranno for a performance test.
Just as the blade was about to pierce her neck, the concrete floor supporting Qing’s body collapsed.
Thanks to that, the sharp blade missed its target, grazing over Qing’s head.
Qing quickly regained her senses and drew her pistol from its holster.
She fired towards the direction where the unseen enemy had been.
But only the gunshots echoed; there was no sound or sign of bullets hitting anything.
With her other hand, Qing pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket, trying to inform her companions of the attack, but the phone showed no response.
Signal jamming? This is a very serious attack. What on earth is their objective?
The opponent was clearly a professional killer.
Qing instinctively knew it would be difficult to survive this.
All she could do was hold out and pray that her companions, noticing something strange, would hurry to rescue her.
Staying in the pit created by the collapse would only lead to death by grenades or other means, so Qing cautiously peeked out of the pit, remaining vigilant.
However, the scene outside the pit was completely different from Qing’s expectations.
The furball Orange Reaper, standing on tiny feet atop a streetlight, reaching its hand towards the sky.
Following its gesture, the sky roared violently.
The Orange Reaper was manipulating the surrounding probabilities, burning firewood little by little.
Lightning struck down from the sky, and concrete fragments rained down from buildings.
Colorful pollutants swirled, rushing towards the enemies’ purification filters.
And the pollutants, whose probabilities were manipulated by the Orange Reaper, simply passed through the purification filters.
Thus, the enemies were struck by lightning, impaled by falling rebar, and died from inhaling toxic substances.
Qing spoke to the Orange Reaper, which had somehow returned to her head.
“Is it already over?”
The Orange Reaper bobbed up and down as if confirming her words.
Qing slowly climbed out of the pit and looked around.
The first thing she examined were the corpses of the assailants clad in black outfits.
The equipment they used was cutting-edge gear Qing had rarely seen even during her mercenary life.
Moreover, they had modified their bodies entirely with Objects, leaving not a single piece of flesh, so upon death, their bodies were left with almost only traces.
Unfortunately, nothing about the attackers’ identities could be gleaned from the remaining traces.
Qing stroked the Orange Reaper that had saved her, and worried about PIG ahjussi, started walking towards the factory.
Arriving at the factory, Qing witnessed an unexpected sight.
The inside of the factory was filled with faint bloodstains and bodies identical to PIG ahjussi’s slug body.
Overwhelmed by shock and confusion, Qing muttered.
“What on earth happened here?”
Suppressing the rising disgust, Qing began to follow the faint trail of bloodstains.